Ukraine drones close Moscow airports ahead of WWII parade
Russia is preparing to hold its annual Red Square Victory Day parade in the shadow of its Ukraine offensive (Alexander NEMENOV) (Alexander NEMENOV/AFP/AFP)
A Ukrainian drone barrage forced Russia to close a dozen airports deep behind the front line on Tuesday, days before foreign leaders gather in Moscow for a World War II Victory Day parade.
Around 29 foreign leaders, including China's Xi Jinping, will be atten the celebration, marking 80 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
President Vladimir Putin is set to use the event to justify his three-year-long offensive on Ukraine, which has left tens of thousands of people dead and seen Russia capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Kremlin said that it would stick to a three-day truce it proposed to coincide with the parade -- which Ukraine has dismissed as nothing more than an attempt by Moscow to secure the safety of the parade.
Ukraine has instead called for a month-long ceasefire.
"President Putin's initiative for a temporary ceasefire during the holidays is relevant," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
But he added that "an adequate response will be given immediately" if Ukraine does not also halt fire.
Kyiv has denounced the proposal as "theatrical" and a "manipulation" -- instead demanding a longer, immediate ceasefire as a step towards ending three years of conflict that began with the launch of Russia's offensive in 2022.
It said Russian attacks killed at least three civilians -- including one child -- and wounded 10 others, also including children, in the Sumy region of Ukraine on Tuesday.
Speculation has swirled over the safety of Moscow's May 9 parade -- which Russia has said will be its grandest ever -- marking the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
It will take place in the shadow of the Ukraine conflict and with the United States pushing for both sides to end the fighting, so far to no avail.
The Kremlin said Tuesday that 29 "foreign leaders" were expected to attend the Red Square parade, including Jinping and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.
- Hundreds of drones -
On the eve of Xi's arrival, Moscow said that Ukraine had launched more than 100 drones targeting a dozen regions, including on the Russian capital. Kyiv, meanwhile, said Russia attacked with 136 drones.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences shot down 19 drones around the capital and debris fell on a major avenue, without causing injuries.
Flight restrictions were introduced at more than a dozen airports, including four in Moscow, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Federal Air Transport Agency. Traffic at the main Sheremetyevo airport remained largely unaffected however.
Russian media broadcast images of a cracked supermarket window and a blackened residential building facade in Moscow.
Airports were also affected in other cities, including Volgograd in the southwest and Nizhny Novgorod in the west.
In the Kursk region, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said an attack was carried out on an electrical substation in the city of Rylsk, wounding two teenagers.
On the battlefield, Moscow said its troops had captured the village of Lysivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. It lies south of Pokrovsk, which Russian troops have been trying to seize for months.
But in one of the few spheres of cooperation, Russia and Ukraine also each released 205 captured soldiers, both sides said.
- 'Not liberators' -
Kyiv also warned against any foreign countries sending their troops to take part in the parade, as the Kremlin said units from 13 other nations, including China, would march on Red Square.
Ukraine said it would be seen as "unacceptable" and "sharing responsibility" for Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
"The Russian army has committed and continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen since World War II... These people are not liberators of Europe, they are occupiers and war criminals," Kyiv's foreign ministry said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced Putin's proposal of a three-day ceasefire, to start at 2100 GMT on May 7, as "playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere" for the May 9 parade.
He instead demanded an immediate, longer ceasefire.
Putin in March rejected a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire that Zelensky had accepted.
US President Donald Trump on Monday defended Putin's proposal, saying it "doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot, if you knew where we started from".
Washington has held separate talks with both Kyiv and Moscow to end the conflict, but has threatened to walk away from the process if progress is not made soon.
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